Jones and Castillo compete at Junior Olympic Regionals

Post-season cross country runners Leo Castillo and Erin Jones raced in the USA Track and Field Association’s Junior Olympic regional meet at Sandy High School Saturday afternoon.

The two, who were the top boy and girl runners on the Hood River Valley High School varsity cross country team, got a wet and muddy preview of next year’s Mt. Hood Conference district course.

Castillo, a HRVHS sophomore, is currently preparing for the Dec. 3 Footlocker Regional meet in Walnut, Calif. He ran in the intermediate division of the 5,000-meter race on Saturday, finishing in third place with a time of 17:16.

Jones, a rookie runner and a freshman at HRVHS, ran in the 4,000-meter youth division. According to Coach Kristen Uhler, Jones’ fifth place finish wasn’t bad, considering the wet course conditions and her being sick.

For Jones, the run was a tune-up for next weekend’s elite Border Clash, which she qualified for after a 19th place finish at the Oregon 4A state meet last weekend.